Samsung Electronics chairman's son to take part in Cobra Gold military exercise

Lee Jee-ho, the son of Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and a junior lieutenant in the Navy, will be dispatched next month to take part in the largest multinational military exercise in Southeast Asia.

Lt. Lee Jee-ho, the son of Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and a junior lieutenant in the Navy, center, salutes during a ceremony at the Naval Academy in Changwon on Nov. 28, 2025. [YONHAP]

Lee Jee-ho, the son of Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and a junior lieutenant in the Navy, will be dispatched next month to take part in an overseas joint military exercise, Korea’s military said on Friday.

Lt. Lee, a junior naval officer, is scheduled to participate in Cobra Gold 2026, the largest multinational military exercise in Southeast Asia. The drills will take place in and around Thailand in February.

Cobra Gold is a humanitarian and peacekeeping-focused joint drill co-hosted by the United States Indo-Pacific Command and the Royal Thai Armed Forces.

About 300 Korean troops are scheduled to take part in the upcoming exercise. Lt. Lee will serve as an interpreting officer, facilitating communication between the Korean Navy command and leaders from the United States and other participating forces during the training.

Lee enlisted last September as part of the Navy’s 139th Officer Candidate School class and was commissioned as a junior lieutenant in November after completing approximately 11 weeks of training.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY SHIN HYE-YEON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]